Cortical memory mechanisms and language origins

• Published in: Brain and language Vol. 98; no. 1; pp. 40 - 56
• Main Authors: Aboitiz, Francisco, García, Ricardo R., Bosman, Conrado, Brunetti, Enzo
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: San Diego, CA Elsevier Inc 01.07.2006; Elsevier
• Subjects: Anatomical correlates of behavior; Animals; Auditory Cortex - physiology; Behavioral psychophysiology; Biological and medical sciences; Brain; Brain - physiology; Broca’s area; Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology; Gestures; Haplorhini - physiology; Humans; Language; Language Development; Language Processing; Learning; Linguistics; Memory; Memory, Short-Term - physiology; Mirror neurons; Models, Neurological; Nerve Net - physiology; Phonology; Primates; Primatology; Psychology. Psychoanalysis. Psychiatry; Psychology. Psychophysiology; Semantics; Sign Language; Syntax; Temporal Lobe - physiology; Vocalization, Animal - physiology; Wernicke’s area; Working memory; Broca’s area; Wernicke’s area; Working memory; Syntax; Mirror neurons; Human; Mirror neuron; Broca's area; Language; Wernicke's area; Cognition; Area Broca
• ISSN: 0093-934X; 1090-2155
• DOI: 10.1016/j.bandl.2006.01.006

We have previously proposed that cortical auditory-vocal networks of the monkey brain can be partly homologized with language networks that participate in the phonological loop. In this paper, we suggest that other linguistic phenomena like semantic and syntactic processing also rely on the activation of transient memory networks, which can be compared to active memory networks in the primate. Consequently, short-term cortical memory ensembles that participate in language processing can be phylogenetically tracked to more simple networks present in the primate brain, which became increasingly complex in hominid evolution. This perspective is discussed in the context of two current interpretations of language origins, the “mirror-system hypothesis” and generativist grammar.